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seen Jolly back down before.

      Nicholas loosened Jolly’s bonds and waited. Jolly groaned and strove to move his fingers. It took him several minutes, but in time his fingers were moving normally again. Jolly seemed relieved at this, as if he had worried that his circulation would never return to normal.

      ‘So I can demand satisfaction from you then?’ Nicholas asked.

      ‘I do not accept challenges, Mr Raspero,’ Jolly replied.

      ‘Then you are not a gentleman,’ Nicholas told him, ‘are you?’

      ‘I am a gentleman who does not accept challenges,’ Jolly said.

      Jolly was so used to being an absolute monarch that the indignity of his current position was taking time to sink in. He felt no fear, but rather an anger that was directed now to regaining his liberty so that he could destroy Nicholas. The thought that he might be in danger from Nicholas never crossed his mind. An absolute monarch was never in danger from anyone. As far as he was concerned, this situation was temporary, very temporary, and he would have his revenge.

      ‘So what’s this all about, Mr Jollison?’ Nicholas asked him.

      Jolly looked at him, and then decided he didn’t want his circulation cut off again. ‘You are a man of rare gifts, Mr Raspero. I wished to learn whether you would be interested in an offer of employment.’

      ‘Do you always tie people up before offering them a job?’ Nicholas asked.

      As it happened, Jolly did not always adopt such an approach to a job interview, but neither was this exactly the first time that he had. Jolly dodged the question. ‘I sought to restrain you to make clear that you have offended me. Once that had been made clear to you, I naturally would have released you without any harm coming to your person. I only sought to make a debating point, Mr Raspero.’

      ‘How have I offended you?’ Nicholas asked, feeling that they were coming at last to what this was all about.

      ‘You have incurred a debt that I wish you to repay,’ Jolly said.

      ‘What debt? And incurred how?’

      ‘The sum of five hundred and eighty strada, incurred by robbing five of my men in Octave Alley quite recently.’ Jolly nodded at the men who were with him, who had all been on Octave Alley that night.

      ‘How come their money is yours?’ Nicholas asked, trying to figure out who this man was.

      ‘Because they are my men,’ Jolly said.

      ‘Well, firstly, it was two hundred and seventy two strada I took from them, and secondly, I don’t accept that I am obliged to repay you the money, whatever the sum.’

      No Tin and his men were shaking their heads and objecting to this statement by Nicholas, but Jolly ignored them. Jolly had already guessed that his men had faked the figures, so he was not too surprised to hear Nicholas say this. He decided to be generous for the time being. Vengeance came to those who waited. ‘Very well, Mr Raspero. I will accept your own account of the matter. The sum for you to repay me is that of two hundred and seventy two strada.’

      Nicholas pointed his wand at the fireplace and banged the fire-starter to light the fire which was set there, given the unseasonable coldness of the weather lately. The paper burned merrily and the kindling started to crackle. ‘I take great offence at you attempting to drug me and bind me,’ Nicholas told Jolly. ‘Very great offence. I think you should be punished for what you have tried to do, and I think you should be punished very severely.’

      ‘You would find that I would be your worst enemy if you were to carry out such a threat, Mr Raspero.’

      Nicholas then stood up and went over to Jolly. He searched him and took away everything he had found on Jolly. Nicholas sorted through what he had taken. Jolly furiously said nothing.

      There was a wad of bank notes, totaling twelve hundred strada. In the silence of those watching what he was doing, Nicholas threw the bank notes onto the fire.

      The attention of all eight of Nicholas’s prisoners were fixed on those burning bank notes as if it was the most remarkable sight they had ever seen. They were unable to tear themselves away from the spectacle.

      ‘Perhaps you now wish to say, Mr Jollison, that I owe you an additional twelve hundred strada,’ Nicholas said. ‘Yes or no?’

      ‘That was a very foolish thing to do, Mr Raspero,’ Jolly said, his voice trembling with anger. He could not remember when he had last been so angry.

      ‘Do you live at the Burke Tavern?’ Nicholas asked.

      ‘No, I do not. But why should you say that?’ Jolly asked, watching the last of his bank notes turning to ash.

      ‘Just a guess,’ said Nicholas. ‘So this is about money. Have I understood you correctly?’

      ‘It is about a debt you have incurred, Mr Raspero,’ Jolly said, still furious at having seen those bank notes burn. ‘A debt is not only about money. It involves the integrity of the debtor. Do you claim that a debt should not be repaid?’

      Nicholas looked at Jolly in silence, still trying to figure out the situation he found himself in as a result purely of the decisions taken by his would-be captor. Who was he, anyway, exactly? ‘So Mr Longman works for you,’ Nicholas said. ‘I have already guessed that.’

      ‘Who is Mr Longman?’ Jolly asked.

      ‘I am surprised that you should go to so much trouble over two hundred and seventy two strada. I am starting to think that this is a matter of principle for you, Mr Jollison.’

      ‘I am glad to see that you are starting to think clearly, Mr Raspero. The preservation of my property is indeed a matter of principle for me.’

      ‘Is it now?’ Nicholas said thoughtfully. ‘I’m starting to understand you better, Mr Jollison.’

      Jolly saw this as a chance to build rapport between himself and his captor. ‘I understand you, Mr Raspero, I understand you well. But you do not yet understand me, Mr Raspero. I am a man of many interests. A man of your talents can be of some use to me, you must realise this yourself, Mr Raspero, and I can only hope that you will come to realise the benefits you may acquire through an association with a man of my varied interests. I guarantee you, Mr Raspero, that I can make you a millionaire in less than a year if you agree to co-operate with me on only two or three ventures. I can begin by providing you with the sum of one hundred thousand strada as an advance. Furthermore, just to make plain the sincerity of my intentions, I will forgive you the debt you have incurred and we will say no more about it. Now you understand me, I think, Mr Raspero.’

      ‘So it’s back to the job offer now, is it?’ Nicholas asked.

      ‘Indeed it is, Mr Raspero,’ Jolly agreed, searching Nicholas’s face for any kind of clues as to whether he was making progress.

      ‘And how long do you plan to let me live to enjoy the benefits that such a large amount of money would bring me?’ Nicholas asked Jolly.

      ‘The benefits of our mutual association will preclude any such intentions on my part,’ Jolly said, and at that moment it might even have been true. The chance of having a man like Nicholas working for him was indeed so tantalising that Jolly might have brought himself to put this matter to one side for twenty years or so before taking his revenge.

      ‘Mr Jollison, let me make something perfectly clear right now. After today, I have no desire to ever look upon your stupid face ever again, nor to be subject to the stink of the gutter which you emanate from every pore of your mind and body. If we are to make an agreement, it will be on the basis that I never have to put up with the stinking unpleasantness of your presence ever again. Keep your money. I don’t want it. I trust that you understand me?’

      Jolly nodded slowly, giving no indication as to whether he had been offended by what Nicholas had just said. ‘It is a matter of personal regret to me, Mr Raspero, that we have failed to establish that mutual

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